Persian · noun · Iqbal's Emblems
Aaina-e-Sikandar
आईना-ए-सिकंदर
said aa-ee-naa-e-si-kan-dar
also written: Mirror of Alexander
Meaning
The legendary mirror said to have been made for Alexander (Sikandar) and set atop the lighthouse of Alexandria, in which distant enemy fleets and far-off events could be seen.
Literally: the mirror of Alexander
How Iqbal uses it
The mirror of Sikandar is the emblem of all-revealing, world-seeing vision; poets pair it with the world-showing cup of Jamshed as the two great instruments of seeing the hidden and the far.
See it in the verse
Aaina-e-Sikandar in Iqbal’s couplets
Tu bacha bacha ke na rakh ise tera aaina hai wo aaina
ke shikasta ho to aziz-tar hai nigah-e-aaina-saaz mein
ke shikasta ho to aziz-tar hai nigah-e-aaina-saaz mein
Do not keep your mirror anxiously protected — yours is the kind of mirror that, even when shattered, is dearer in the eyes of its maker.
Courage · Selfhood · Adversity
Khol kar aankhen mere aaeena-e-guftar mein dekh
Aane wale daur ki dhundli si ek tasveer dekh
Aane wale daur ki dhundli si ek tasveer dekh
Open your eyes and look into the mirror of my words — see the faint, blurred picture of the age that is coming.
Awakening · Hope · Leadership